Bob Woodward exposed reams of classified intelligence in his most recent book. But it was Barack Obama’s assertion of the obvious that ignited outrage among his national-security critics. The president told Woodward that “we can absorb” another terrorist attack—implying that we won’t be able to prevent every attempted act of terror. The conservative blogosphere lit up. Liz Cheney accused Obama of an “alarming fatalism” and of abdicating his paramount responsibility: to do everything in his power to protect the American people. Obama’s approach to terrorism is not immune from criticism. But he deserves credit for treating voters as grownups. After the recent series of near misses—the underwear bomber last Christmas, the Times Square attempted bombing, the “package plot”—who would bet against a terrorist getting lucky and slipping through our defenses in 2011?

The setting, a legendary Chicago steakhouse, was pure Rosty. I'd imagined him striding through the restaurant, pushing past the favor-seekers and acolytes, stopping to schmooze impressed diners. But it was a much-diminished Dan Rostenkowski who'd recently emerged from 13 months in the federal penitentiary.

President Obama moved Thursday to end the squawking among reporters and members of Congress about a wider shakeup of his AfPak team. In doing so, he was choosing between the lesser of undesirable outcomes for a president who disdains unnecessary drama.